2020 - What Will it Bring?
A few days left and we'll be in not just a new year but a new decade.
Too tempting not to reflect and have some fun predicting on what the coming years might bring.
So here goes:
More data-based decision making - companies of all shapes and sizes will involve their customers in decision making, looking to data-based decisions to replace gut. DIY will continue to be an enabler of the long tail and companies that traditionally haven't done much research.
Ever quicker - the pressure on speed of turnaround will increase, meaning unceasing pressure to automate, use machines and the like. IT and research become even more cosy bedfellows.
"Why?" remains elusive - and a key question in any business decision. Qual research will benefit, "real" or other.
Consumers plus other groups - as companies embrace diverse stakeholders in their drive to show responsible behaviors, the research remit will stretch to influencers, policy makers and the like. B2B research will profit.
Human touch will emerge the victor over data-driven stuff. Ambient tech is heralding the need to de-stress, detox, so chat bots may well be in greater evidence, perhaps as the first base touch-point, but the human voice will be reassuringly present. Expect a renaissance of methods that deliver immediacy, the sense of the real, and even complex human behaviors. BE is not forgotten.
Price pressures will continue downwards - meaning continuing erosion of margins, likely ongoing industry consolidation, and some zombie-style companies silently disappearing.
Attracting talent will remain a challenge - the face of our industry will be likely that of the better-paid data-scientist. Will this prove enticing for a broad range of university graduates beyond computer science? Perhaps the history of research remaining the career choice by accident will carry on, serendipity to the rescue.
Growth and dominance will likely continue to emanate from a mixture of the USA and the multitude of new growth economies with their younger and numerous populations. Myanmar has a population of.....53 million and growing.
The presidential election in the USA in November 2020 could change everything - so that's a watch-out for 2020 and the years to come. Similarly the Italian national elections in 2023, with the huge implications that will have for the rest of the EU27.
Will MR thrive? Will the pot of money available get bigger, to the benefit of us collectively and individually?
Only if the discipline manages to get into more strategic decision making areas - with their higher budgets and access to senior management. If currently an estimated 80% minimum of all MR projects are tactical, there's way to go.
Yes, presenting ourselves more sexily, aiming to inspire rather than just convince will help - with storytelling and the like scrubbing up our image a bit. And becoming better communicators is an ongoing imperative.
But it's only if we answer the ROI questions robustly and consistently that we are likely to capture a larger share of corporate budgets, be that marketing, R&D, digital stuff, NPD or more.
So that's it - here's to the roaring 20s, to the short and the long of it all.
Lets hope it's a dynamic rather than decadent decade.
Curious, as ever, as to others' views.